1

UNIT 3
Stack and Subroutines
 2
The
Stack
• The stack is an area of memory identified by the
programmer for temporary storage of
information.
• The stack is a LIFO structure.
– Last In First Out.
• The stack normally grows backwards
into memory.
– In other words, the programmer
Memory

defines the bottom of the stack

and the stack grows up into
reducing address range. The Stack
grows
backwards
into memory Bottom
of the
Stack
 3
The
Stack
• Given that the stack grows backwards into
memory, it is customary to place the bottom of
the stack at the end of memory to keep it as
far away from user programs as possible.
• In the 8085, the stack is defined by setting
the SP (Stack Pointer) register.
• LXI SP, FFFFH
• This sets the Stack Pointer to location
FFFFH (end of memory for the 8085).
• The Size of the stack is limited only by
the available memory
 4
Saving Information on the Stack
• Information is saved on the stack by PUSHing it
on.
– It is retrieved from the stack by POPing it off.

• The 8085 provides two instructions: PUSH

and POP for storing information on the stack
and retrieving it back.
– Both PUSH and POP work with register pairs
ONLY.
 5
The PUSH
• PUSH B Instruction
(1 Byte Instruction)
– Decrement SP
– Copy the contents of register B to the
memory location pointed to by SP
– Decrement SP
– Copy the contents of register C to the
memory location pointed to by SP
B C
12 F3
FFFB

FFFC F3

FFFD 12 SP
FFFE
FFFF
 6
The POP Instruction
• POP D (1 Byte Instruction)
– Copy the contents of the memory location pointed
to by the SP to register E
– Increment SP
– Copy the contents of the memory location pointed
to by the SP to register D
– Increment SP

D E
12 F3
FFFB

FFFC SP
F3
FFFD 12

FFFE
FFFF
 7
Operation of the
Stackthe stack operates in
• During pushing,
a “decrement then store” style.
– The stack pointer is decremented first, then
the information is placed on the stack.

• During poping, the stack operates in a “use

then increment” style.
– The information is retrieved from the top of the
the stack and then the pointer is incremented.
• The SP pointer always points to “the top of the
stack”.
 8
LIFO
• The order of PUSHs and POPs must be opposite of each
other in order to retrieve information back into its original
location.

PUSH B
PUSH
D
...
POP
D
POP B
• Reversing the order of the POP instructions will result in
the exchange of the contents of BC and DE.
 9
The PSW Register
• The 8085Pair
recognizes one additional register pair
called the PSW (Program Status Word).
– This register pair is made up of the
Accumulator and the Flags registers.

• It is possible to push the PSW onto the stack, do

whatever operations are needed, then POP it
off of the stack.
– The result is that the contents of the
Accumulator and the status of the Flags are
returned to what they were before the
operations were executed.
 10
PUSH PSW Register Pair
• PUSH PSW (1 Byte Instruction)
– Decrement SP
– Copy the contents of register A to the
memory location pointed to by SP
– Decrement SP
– Copy the contents of Flag register to the
memory location pointed to by SP
A Flag
12 80
FFFB

FFFC 80
12
FFFD SP
FFFE
FFFF
 11
Pop PSW Register
• POP PSWPair (1 Byte Instruction)
– Copy the contents of the memory location pointed
to by the SP to Flag register
– Increment SP
– Copy the contents of the memory location pointed
to by the SP to register A
– Increment SP

A Flag
12 80
FFFB

FFFC SP
80
FFFD 12
FFFE
FFFF
 12
Modify Flag Content using PUSH/POP
• Let, We want to Reset the Zero Flag
• 7 6 5 4 3 21 0
• 8085 Flag : S | Z | X |AC|X |P |X |
• Program: Cy
– LXI SP
FFFF
– PUSH PSW
– POP H
MOVBFH
– ANI A L (BFH= 1011 1111) * Masking
– MOV L A
– PUSH H
– POP
PSW
 13
Subroutines
• A subroutine is a group of instructions that will be
used repeatedly in different locations of the
program.
– Rather than repeat the same instructions several
times, they can be grouped into a subroutine that
is called from the different locations.

• In Assembly language, a subroutine can exist

anywhere in the code.
– However, it is customary to place subroutines
separately from the main program.
 14
Subroutines
• The 8085 has two instructions for dealing with
subroutines.
– The CALL instruction is used to redirect program
execution to the subroutine.
– The RET insutruction is used to return the
execution to the calling routine.
 15
The CALL
Instruction
• CALL 4000H (3 byte instruction)
– When CALL instruction is fetched, the MP
knows that the next two Memory location
contains 16bit subroutine address in the
memory.
2000 CALL
4000
2003 4 0 00 [W] [Z]Register

PC 2003
FFFB

FFFC 03
20
FFFD SP
FFFE
FFFF
 16
The CALL
Instruction
– MP Reads the subroutine address from the next
two memory location and stores the higher order
8bit of the address in the W register and stores the
lower order 8bit of the address in the Z register
– Pushe the address of the instruction immediately
following the CALL onto the stack [Return
address]
– Loads the program counter with the 16-bit address
supplied with the CALL instruction from WZ
register.
 17
The RET
• RET Instruction
(1 byte instruction)
– Retrieve the return address from the top of
the stack
– Load the program counter with the return
address.

PC 2003
FFFB
4014 ...
4015 RET FFFC SP
03
FFFD 20

FFFE
FFFF
 18
Things to be considered in Subroutine
• The CALL instruction places the return address
at the two memory locations immediately before
where the Stack Pointer is pointing.
– You must set the SP correctly BEFORE using the
CALL instruction.

• The RET instruction takes the contents of the

two memory locations at the top of the stack and
uses these as the return address.
– Do not modify the stack pointer in a subroutine.
You will loose the return address.
 19
Things to be considered in Subroutine
• Number of PUSH and POP instruction used
in the subroutine must be same, otherwise,
RET instruction will pick wrong value of the
return address from the stack and program
will fail.
 20
Passing Data to a
Subroutine
• Data is passed to a subroutine through registers.
– Call by Reference:
• The data is stored in one of the registers by the calling
program and the subroutine uses the value from the
register. The register values get modified within the
subroutine. Then these modifications will be
transferred back to the calling program upon returning
from a subroutine
– Call by Value:
• The data is stored in one of the registers, but the
subroutine first PUSHES register values in the stack
and after using the registers, it POPS the previous
values of the registers from the stack while exiting the
subroutine.
i.e. the original values are restored before execution
returns to the calling program.
 21
Passing Data to a
Subroutine
• The other possibility is to use agreed
upon memory locations.
– The calling program stores the data in the memory
location and the subroutine retrieves the data from
the location and uses it.
 22
Cautions with PUSH and
• PUSHPOP
and POP should be used in
opposite order.

• There has to be as many POP’s as there

are PUSH’s.
– If not, the RET statement will pick up the
wrong information from the top of the stack
and the program will fail.

• It is not advisable to place PUSH or POP inside

a loop.
 23
Conditional CALL and RTE Instructions
• The 8085 supports conditional CALL
and conditional RTE instructions.
– The same conditions used with conditional JUMP
instructions can be used.

– CC, call subroutine if Carry flag is set.

– CNC, call subroutine if Carry flag is not set
– RC, return from subroutine if Carry flag is set
– RNC, return from subroutine if Carry flag is not
set
– Etc.
COUNTERS AND TIME
DELAYS
 Counter and Time Delays
•A counter is designed simply by loading appropriate number
into one of the registers and using INR or DNR instructions.
•Loop is established to update the count.
•Each count is checked to determine whether it has reached
final number ;if not, the loop is repeated.
 Time Delay
Procedure used to design a specific delay.
A register is loaded with a number , depending on the time
delay required and then the register is decremented until it
reaches zero by setting up a loop with conditional jump
instruction.

Time delay using

One register:
Label Opcode Operand Comments T

statesMVI C,FFH ;Load register 7

LOOP: DCR C C 4
JNZ LOOP ;Decrement C 10/7
decrement
;Jump back Cto
Clock frequency of the system = 2 MHz
Clock period= 1/T= 0.5 μs
Time to execute
MVI = 7 T states * 0.5= 3.5 μs

Time Delay in
Loop TL= T*Loop T states * N10
=

0.5 * 14* 255

=
1785 μs = 1.8
ms
 Time Delay using a register pair
Label Opcode Operand Comments T
states
LXI B,2384H Load BC with 16-bit count 10
LOOP: DCX B Decrement BC by 1 6
MOV A,C Place contents of C in A 4
ORA B OR B with C to set Zero flag 4
JNZ LO if result not equal to 0 , 10/
OP jump back to loop 7
Time Delay in Loop TL= T*Loop T states * N10
= 0.5 * 24* 9092
= 109 ms

Time Delay using a LOOP within a LOOP

MVI B,38H 7T Delay in Loop TL1=1783.5 μs
LOOP2: MVI C,FFH 7T Delay in Loop TL2= (0.5*21+TL1)*56
LOOP1: DCR C 4T =100.46ms
JNZ LOOP1 10/7 T
DCR B 4T
JNZ LOOP 2 10/7T
Flowchart
for time
delay
two loopswith
Flowchart of a counter with time delay
Illustrative Program: Hexadecimal Counter
Write a Program to count continuously from FFH to 00H using
register C with delay count 8CH between each count and
display the number at one of the output ports.

MVI B,00H
NEXT: DCR B
MVI
C,8CH
DELAY: DCR C
JNZ DELAY
MOV A,B
OUT PORT#
JMP NEXT
Illustrative Program: Zero to nine (Modulo
ten) Counter Start
START: MVI B,00H
MOV A,B Initialize counter
DSPLAY: OUT
PORT # Display Output
LOOP: DCX H LXI
H,16-bit
MOV A,L Load Delay register
ORA H
JNZ LOOP Decrement Delay register
INR B
MOV A,B Is Delay register=0?
CPI 0AH
JNZ DSPLAY Next Count
JZ START
Is count =0AH?

If yes, Initialize
counter If no, Display
Output